The prosecution of Ahmed Hannan, one of the four defendants in the so-called Detroit Terror trial that resulted in the government requesting dismissal of the terrorism charges and admitting it did not have sufficient evidence to pursue the case, ended with his being sentenced to six months for an attempted insurance fraud. After the government asked the District Court to reverse the convictions last September, it then reindicted Hannan for his role in an attempted fraud involving a fake automobile accident, and his plea agreement called for a sentence of 0 to 6 months. Unfortunately for Hannan, he has been held for 43 months, since his arrest in September 2001; moreover, as part of his plea agreement, he will be deported in the next week to his native Morocco. In an unusual statement that you don't hear very often, U.S. District Court Judge Gerald Rosen, who presided over the trial on the terrorism charges, said to Hannan: "I would be remiss if I did not say that the procedures that are normally followed in criminal cases were not followed in your case, and for that, you have the apology of the United States government . . . Some of the procedures failed you and, unfortunately, failed the system in this case."

The Department of Justice has been conducting a criminal investigation of the conduct of Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Convertino, who was the lead prosecutor in the trial, and that investigation does not appear to have been resolved at this point. An article in the Detroit News (here) discusses the sentencing. (ph)